Adaptations
by turtleback
Summary: After the events of Episode 3.10, Jane and Maura have to adapt to their changed circumstances. Major Spoilers for Episode 3.10. See Chapter 1 Author's Note for full summary. Final chapter posted.
1. Chapter 1

**Adaptations**

Pairing: Jane/Maura  
Rating: M  
Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me.

**Warning: Spoilers for Episode 3.10.**

**A/N: For a number of reasons, I really hadn't planned on writing a post 3.10 story that addressed the baby. But I had this idea. This story starts about 4 months after the episode. I don't know exactly where things are going after this first chapter, but be warned that this chapter is super angsty. **

* * *

Eighteen weeks had passed.

Eighteen weeks since a baby had been left on Maura's doorstep and their lives had changed completely. Sometimes Jane would look back at that day and think about all the different ways things could have gone instead. For one, Maura could have been killed that day. Lydia could have made any number of choices of what to do with the baby. Tommy could have stayed and manned up, rather than skipping town and sending word three weeks later that he was working a job in Florida and wasn't going to be raising any kid.

Of all the ways Jane could have guessed that the events of that day would end, her last guess, the one she would have given the longest odds, would have been that Maura would end up being the mother to baby nephew.

Initially, right after the baby was discovered at Maura's house, everyone recognized that the baby had to stay there at least for the night. Jane volunteered to run out to the store to get the few supplies they needed- formula, bottles, clothes and diapers- until they found a place for him. By the time Jane returned to Maura's house, Maura and Angela were discussing baby names and babysitting schedules.

Maura and Angela were huddled on the couch with the baby in Maura's arms. Angela had looked up at Jane, who was standing in the doorway listening to their conversation with her mouth hanging open, and said happily, "Maura wants to adopt him."

Jane was dumbfounded and looking back she was still baffled by what happened. She had been gone no more than thirty minutes and during that time her best friend had decided to turn her life, their lives is what Jane actually thought, upside down with her mother encouraging it.

_"Didn't you just say recently that you'd given up on marriage and stuff?" Jane had inelegantly said to Maura._

_"I've never given up on having kids," Maura had curtly responded._

_Jane was more than confused by Maura's participation in this craziness so she turned on Angela instead on said, "What about you? Did you forget who the father might be."_

_"Frank probably isn't the father. He had a...procedure, after Tommy was born. Tommy is the father."_

_"Oh," Jane said with a grimace. "Well, that still doesn't mean he's Tommy's. Who knows who the father is? It could be anybody given what we know about Lydia."_

_"Maura will do a paternity test," Angela responded. "But this baby is probably my first grandchild and I intend to treat him that way. And even if he isn't related to me by blood, if Maura does adopt him he will be as good as my grandchild."_

_"So, what, if Tommy or whoever the father is isn't gonna take care of him, you and Maura are just going to raise him together?" Jane shot back._

_It was at this point that Maura interjected, "I hope you'll want to be involved too."_

_"Involved? What does that mean?" Jane asked even more agitated._

_"It means whatever you want it to mean," Maura replied._

Maura was adamant that they were not going to put the kid into any social services system. At first Jane assumed Maura was reacting, overreacting she privately thought, to Dennis fucking Rockmond being a sociopath and nearly killing her. It didn't take long, though, for Jane to realize how similar this baby's situation was to what happened to Maura as a baby. Maura was essentially dropped on the Isle's doorstep. If they hadn't taken her in, there's no telling what direction Maura's life would have taken.

Maura knew now that she hadn't been abandoned because her birth parents didn't want her, but she still had lived most of her life feeling that way. This baby literally was not wanted by its parents. Lydia had not only left the baby on the doorstep, but a bag with a number of the things Angela and Maura had rounded up for the baby shower, along with a note describing exactly how she could not and would not raise this kid. It was understandable that Maura wanted to protect and take care of this baby.

After the paternity test, which was easy because Tommy was already in the system from his incarceration, confirmed that Tommy was the father, he was equally eager to give up any parental responsibility. It took about a month to get all of the paperwork done, during which time Maura still had guardianship of the baby. Maura's position, resources, and the exceptional willingness of the birth parents to give up custody of the baby, made the adoption process very easy.

Jane spent the entire month secretly hoping that Maura would change her mind. That she would realize that this was crazy and irrational and it was a decision made way too hastily. Thirty minutes with a baby and Maura had decided to change her whole life. By the end of the month, Maura had hired a new Assistant Medical Examiner to take over her autopsy duties, allowing Maura to work only daytime hours and concentrate on administrative and supervisory duties. Immediately, Angela quit her job at the cafe and took over daytime child care duties.

Eighteen weeks later Jane was still was still trying to make sense of it all. Maura had adopted a kid. Her nephew. Teddy. Well, Theodore. Maura had asked Angela for Rizzoli family name suggestions. Thomas and Frank were obviously out, so Angela went back a couple of generations. She had a grandfather named Teodoro.

Initially Jane felt guilty, after all it was her family who dumped this responsibility on Maura, even if Maura did willingly volunteer. At first Jane tried to help out a lot. She did diaper and formula runs. She put together the crib and rearranged the guest room to accommodate baby stuff. Some nights she would stay late at Maura's house to do the midnight feeding so Maura would only have to get up once during the night.

But now, Teddy mostly slept through the night. He smiled now and laughed. He could roll over and his gaze would follow Maura around the room. Maura went to work and then straight home for Teddy's dinner, play time, bath time, and bed and then she was up early for more. When Jane did go over to visit, Maura talked endlessly about developmental milestones and stimulating Teddy's brain, and how babies could understand a lot more than they were able to express.

And Jane wasn't sure how she fit into Maura's life anymore. She felt neglected and resentful and then she felt guilty for feeling that way. She shouldn't be jealous of a baby and she shouldn't be resentful of Maura's happiness. Because Maura was happy, ridiculously, glowingly happy.

Meanwhile Jane felt like she was lost. She was tense all the time and lashed out co-workers, particularly the new medical examiner. Korsak tried to talk to her about it, but Jane just brushed him off. Not because she didn't recognize that there was a problem, but because she didn't see anyway to fix it.

Eighteen weeks later and Jane was sitting a table in a restaurant waiting for a blind date that her mother had set up for her and wondering how she had gotten to this point. That morning Angela had told her about the date, saying, "I know you don't want me to set you up with anyone but without me you wouldn't do anything for yourself. I know the past few months have been difficult for you too. You deserve a night out. Even if it isn't a love connection you can still enjoy a night out."

And Jane, probably surprising both of them, had said," Okay, it can't hurt." Privately she had thought it would probably be a good idea to meet some new people.

These thoughts were going through Jane's head when a voice next to her said, "Jane. Hi."

Jane looked up surprised to see Maura standing next to her table and blurted out, "What are you doing here?"

"I have a date," Maura answered.

"Oh. With who?"

"Well, I don't know. It's a blind date. Actually, your mother set it up."

Jane's eyebrows shot up. "Seriously?"

"She said I should get out of the house and do something for myself."

"Really? What did she tell you about your date?" Jane asked.

"Tall, brown hair, works in law enforcement."

"For Christ's sake. Just sit down," Jane said, gesturing to the empty chair across from her.

Maura did sit down and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Ma also set me up on a blind date. She said it was someone attractive and smart who works in the medical profession."

"Ohhh," Maura said as realization dawned on her. "Why would your mother pretend to set us up on dates if she just wanted us to have dinner together?"

"I have absolutely no idea." But, Jane thought, I'm sure as hell going to find out.

"Well, we're here. It's my first evening out since...since Teddy was born."

Jane unclenched her jaw and willed herself to say calmly, "You can go home if want to. I'd understand."

"No, I don't want to. I want to have a nice dinner out. I'm happy it's with you and not a total stranger."

Jane picked up the menu. "I guess we should order then."

After a minute of silence while they both looked at the menus, Maura said, "Jane, I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I don't know. You haven't been around as much recently. If I did something to make you think I didn't want to see you, I'm sorry."

"Yeah, um, work's been busy," Jane said.

"No, it hasn't. I see the reports on all of the cases. If anything, your caseload has been below average." Maura tentatively reached out to put her hand over Jane's and gave it a light squeeze. "I miss you. I know I haven't had as much time for you. But Teddy will be much more independent soon and it will be easier for us to spend time together like we used to. "

Jane resisted the urge to pull her hand away, instead balling her other hand into a fist underneath the table and managing to say, "I guess it's just still weird for me that you're raising my brother's kid."

"I can understand that. Have you heard from Tommy recently?" Maura asked.

"Nope. I actually keep expecting him to show up sometime and try to use the kid to weasel his way into your, um-"

Now Maura leaned back and pulled her hand away. "Into what? My bed?"

Jane grimaced. "I didn't mean it like that."

Maura shook her head as she said, "What is going on with you? I thought you would be happy for me. Happy that I'm happy. I also thought that you would be there for me. I thought that you would be around, that you would want to be a major part of Ted's life. Even when you are around now you aren't really present. Your mother is amazing, and I think I'm managing everything as well as I can, but that doesn't mean I don't need your support."

"You made all of these decisions- adopt a baby, change your job, change everything- without even asking my opinion on any of it," Jane said, knowing it sounded pathetic. After a moment she finally confessed, "I don't know how I fit in to your new... family. You don't need me anymore."

"My life has changed, but you're my best friend. I always need you."

"You know, I'm not really hungry. You should go home to Teddy."

Jane got up to leave but Maura grabbed her arm. "Jane, please don't push me away. Come over this weekend and we'll all spend a day together. Please?"

"Okay," Jane agreed warily. "I'll see you later."


	2. Chapter 2

**Adaptations**

Chapter 2

Pairing: Jane/Maura  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me.

**Warning: Spoilers for Episode 3.10. See chapter 1 for full summary.**

* * *

Jane arrived at Maura's house Saturday mid-morning, but her first stop was the guest house, which she barged inside and yelled, "What the hell, Ma?"

"What?" Angela said innocently from her seat on the couch where she was reading a magazine.

"Come on, Ma, the whole blind date thing? 'Oh, Jane, don't worry if isn't a love connection.' What the hell was that about?"

Angela shrugged casually. "I don't know why you and Maura are fighting but I figured if I could get you two in a public place together you could talk it out and get over it."

Jane felt the now very familiar tightness creeping across her chest. She clenched and unclenched her fists as she paced in front of Angela. "Maura and I aren't fighting."

"Then why are you never here anymore? You used to be at Maura's house practically every day. Now you're never here and I know you don't see her as much at work. So something must have happened."

"Yeah, she's got a kid now, Ma. It's not the same," Jane said.

"What isn't the same? Sure, she has a baby. She plays with him, feeds him, and puts him to bed. Then she eats dinner alone, reads on the couch alone, and goes to bed alone. That doesn't really sound all that different to me than before Teddy came along, except that you aren't here."

"It's completely different. You don't understand," Jane argued.

"I understand how you're feeling. You two are so close and right now you aren't the most important thing in her life. Frank acted the same way when you were born. It won't last forever though."

"Maura and I aren't a couple, Ma. You can't use you and Pop as an example for everything with me and Maura."

"Fine, then I don't understand. She's your best friend. Now she has a baby but she's still your best friend. You knew eventually she was going to get married or have kids or both. Unless..." Angela started but then trailed off while looking thoughtfully at Jane.

"Unless what?" Jane said, jaw clenched.

"Nothing," Angela said, waving it off. "All I'm trying to say is that you should just tell Maura the truth about how you're feeling. She deserves that at the very least. And whatever you're feeling I think you should do a better job of being a good friend to her right now. You aren't the only one going through all of these changes."

Jane sighed, hanging her head. "I know, Ma. I don't want things to be like this. I'll try okay?"

Jane left the guest house and went over to Maura's house where she found Maura curled up on the couch with her laptop. "Hey," Jane said as she took a seat on the other end of the couch.

"Hi," Maura said, looking up and smiling brightly. "Teddy is napping. I was just finishing reviewing this week's autopsy reports."

"So," Jane said. "What are we going to do today?"

"It's so nice out today. When Teddy wakes up from his nap, I thought we could walk down to the Common or to the gardens. We're not going to have many more nice days this fall, I think we should take advantage of it. We can give him his bottle and then he'll play and maybe nap again and we can eat lunch."

"Alright, that sounds good," Jane agreed.

A cry came over the baby monitor. "Oh, there he is," Maura said.

"I'll get him," Jane said, jumping up off of the couch.

"Okay, just check and see if he needs a diaper change. His clothes for the day are on the changing table. "

Jane went upstairs to the guest room where Teddy was fussing in his crib. Jane picked him, saying, "Hey, little buddy. Let's check your diaper, okay? Yeah, alright, that needs changing."

Ten minutes later Jane was finally back downstairs with a freshly changed and dressed Teddy. Maura had changed and gotten the stroller and all of the baby supplies ready. "Ready?" Maura asked.

"Let's do it." Jane secured Teddy in the stroller. "Damn, this thing is nicer than my car."

"Probably safer too," Maura added.

"Yeah, probably," Jane laughed. "Okay, he's all set. Why don't you give me that bag to carry?"

"I can put in the bottom of the stroller."

"I'll take bag, you push the stroller," Jane said, taking the diaper bag out of Maura's hands and slinging it over her shoulder.

They walked down Maura's street to Boston Common and then meandered their way through the common and into the public garden. They found a spot near the lagoon and Maura pulled a blanket out of the bottom of the stroller and spread it on the grass.

"We could go for ride on the swan boats. I've never done that," Maura suggested.

"No thanks. We could walk around the whole thing faster than the poor guy can pedal that boat around."

"I don't think speed is the point of the swan boats."

"They're for tourists. Let's just relax here and get this little guy his bottle."

"Do you want to feed him?" Maura asked.

"Sure." Jane took Teddy out of the stroller and cradled him in her arms while Maura finished prepping the formula bottle. "So, does he get to try real food soon?" Jane asked after Teddy was happily sucking away on the bottle.

"He can start trying some soft foods soon. He just started teething. He's got a couple of teeth ready to come in."

"Cool. Are you going to be a picky eater or an adventurous eater, buddy?" Jane said to Teddy. "I hope it's adventurous because your Mom likes to eat a lot weird stuff."

"Healthy, organic food is not weird. And you always love my food."

Jane just grinned at Maura in response. She held up the bottle and shook it, seeing if there was anything left, and put it back in Teddy's mouth for one last drink. "He really sucks this down, huh?"

"He does have a very healthy appetite."

With the bottle empty, Jane handed Teddy to Maura and said, "I'm going to run across the street and grab sandwiches from that cafe you like, okay?"

"Half sandwich, half salad for me, please?"

"Of course. I know what you like," Jane said over her shoulder as she wove her way through the other picnickers towards the cafe.

Fifteen minutes later Jane returned with two bags of food. Maura was lying on her side, rubbing Teddy's back and talking softly to him while he was lying on his stomach in the middle of the blanket. Jane paused behind them and watched the scene for a few moments until Teddy started crying.

"Hey, what's going on little guy?" Jane said as she sat back down on the other side of him.

"We're doing tummy time," Maura said.

"Tummy time? Is that the technical term for it?" Jane joked.

"Yes, I believe it is," Maura said, laughing. "It's to strengthen his neck and back muscles so that he'll be able to sit up on his own and crawl. He usually gets frustrated after about five minutes though because he can't move around yet like he wants to." Maura put some new toys down in front of him and Teddy stopped fussing momentarily.

Jane handed Maura her lunch and asked, "What were you telling him before I got back?"

Maura looked up at Jane with a curious expression for a moment before she shook her head and said, "Nothing really. I was just talking."

Jane missed the way Maura was looking at her and said, "Well, I'm sure it was very informative, whatever it was."

They ate lunch mostly in silence except for Teddy's occasional frustrated cries. Soon Maura put him back in his stroller and alternated between eating and helping him play, which mostly involved him holding onto a toy briefly and shaking it until he lost his grasp and Maura gave him something else to grab onto.

At least that's what it looked like to Jane. She was sure Maura could have told her how it was helping his brain development and hand-eye coordination or something like that. Jane just quietly watched Maura, somewhat in awe of how natural she was with him and how she was so calm and confident about how to take care of a baby.

Maura gave Teddy his pacifier when his eyes started to droop and he was quickly asleep again. When Maura turned toward Jane and found Jane staring at her, Maura said quietly, "What?"

"Is he going to be able to sleep okay out here with all the noise around us?" Jane asked.

"Probably. Once he is asleep, almost nothing wakes him up. Why were you looking at me like that?"

"I'm just amazed at how natural you seem with a baby. Not that I'm surprised, I didn't mean it like that. But I am impressed. You make it look easy," Jane said with a slight shrug.

Maura didn't respond, she just stretched out on the blanket and finished her sandwich. Jane pretended to watch other people walking around the gardens for a little while and then she stretched out on her back with her hands under her head.

"I'm curious about something," Maura finally said.

"What's that?"

"Did you ask your mother why she set us up like that the other night?" Maura asked.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I did. I guess she thought that we were fighting and she wanted to get us together so we would make up."

"Hmmm. Are we fighting?" Maura said, genuinely curious.

Jane turned on her side so they were facing each other and she was struck by the honest questioning and vulnerability she saw on Maura's face. "No, we are not fighting. We are just adapting to new circumstances and I am not doing a very good job adapting. I'm working on it, though."

Maura reached out and took one of Jane's hands. "I'm sorry. I promise that my schedule will improve and I'll have more time to spend with you like we used to," Maura said so earnestly that Jane wanted to kick herself for letting Maura be so selfless and take the blame for what were really Jane's own issues.

But Jane didn't say anything in response and Maura looked at her watch and said, "We should walk back while he's still asleep. Once he's up he'll want to eat again and I don't have another bottle."

They packed up and walked back to Maura's house. Teddy was still sleeping peacefully and they left him in the stroller while Maura bustled around the kitchen cleaning bottles and preparing formula while Jane stood around watching and feeling unhelpful.

"After he has his bottle," Maura said, "I'm going to give him a bath and then put him to bed. You can help if you want. Then we can order some food and maybe watch a movie or something."

"Actually, I'm gonna head out now," Jane said.

"What, already?" Maura said, the confusion and hurt evident on her face. "I thought we were going to spend the evening together too. I thought maybe you would even want to spend the night."

"I can't, okay? We'll talk later," Jane said lamely.

Jane headed to the door to leave, but Maura caught up to her and said, "Jane, please don't leave. Will you just tell me the truth about what's bothering you."

Teddy cried from his stroller as he woke up and Jane looked toward him and then back to Maura, but she couldn't hold Maura's gaze. Jane looked to the floor and said, "I can't pretend...I can't play house with you like this. I just can't." Jane opened the door and left, leaving an even more Maura confused behind her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Adaptations**

Chapter 3

Pairing: Jane/Maura  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me.

**Warning: Spoilers for Episode 3.10. See chapter 1 for full summary.**

* * *

Monday morning, Maura walked into the bullpen. She didn't have as many reasons to come up to the Homicide Department as she used to, so she hadn't been up to this floor in a few weeks. She nodded hello to the officers and detectives she passed on her way to Jane's desk, aware that Jane was watching her the whole time, and stopped briefly to talk to Korsak.

When Maura reached Jane she said quietly, "Can we talk privately?"

"Sure. Come on." Jane guided Maura to an empty interrogation room down the hall and closed the door most of the way behind her. Maura moved to the other side of the table in the room but remained standing so Jane did too but stayed next to the door.

"It's not fair of you to leave my house in the middle of a conversation when you know that I can't follow you," Maura said sharply.

"I didn't know we were in the middle of a conversation," Jane responded dumbly.

"I don't think that's true. But I do think you are doing everything you can to avoid having any real conversation with me. I don't want to talk about this...about us, at work. I want us to talk in privacy and when we don't have to worry about any interruptions. But I need to talk to you and you need to listen to what I have to say. I don't think that should be too much to ask of someone who is supposed to be my best friend."

"When do you want to talk?" Jane asked.

"Whenever you're ready to have a real conversation." If Maura saw Jane flinch at that statement she didn't let it show. "You know where to find me."

* * *

A few days later, Jane went to Maura's house in the evening, late enough that she guessed Maura would be done putting Teddy to bed and they would have as much time as they needed for the conversation that Maura had been so insistent they needed to have. Jane had a pretty good idea what the conversation was going to be about and she was not looking forward to it at all.

What Jane didn't expect when she entered Maura's house was to find Maura and Constance sitting together in the kitchen. It looked like they had just finished dinner. "Constance, hello. I wasn't expecting to see you here. How long are you in town for?" Jane asked.

Constance gave Jane a surprised look and Maura jumped in and said, "Jane, didn't I tell you? My mother has rented an apartment in the Back Bay so that she can spend more time here. Of course, hopefully my father will be able to visit more too," Maura added. "But his work schedule keeps him traveling quite a bit now."

"Oh, uh, that's really great," Jane said.

"I don't want to miss my grandson growing up," Constance said.

Jane was sure that she failed to hide her surprise at the news as she said to Constance, "So, when did this happen?"

"I think it's been a little more than a month now," Constance said, looking at Maura, who nodded her confirmation. "I haven't been here that whole time, of course," she added.

"Oh, wow, okay. Well, hey, that's great. Teddy is going to have so much family around and that's really wonderful," Jane managed to say. "Well, Maura, I, um, came over to talk, but if now isn't a good time, I can go."

"No, no, you stay," Constance said. "I should get back to my own apartment. It's very nice to see you, Jane," Constance said, giving a squeeze to Jane's arm.

"Yeah, you too."

Maura walked her mother to the door and returned to find Jane pacing in the living room. "Are you okay?"

Jane stopped pacing and ran a hand through her hair. "No, I don't think I am. I mean, how did I not know that your mother had basically moved to Boston?"

"I should have told you," Maura said.

"No. This is my fault. Everything is my fault. I've been a terrible friend. Everyone but me is making all of these changes in their lives. Making decisions, moving forward. And I'm just stuck in place with no fucking clue what I'm doing." Jane sighed and looked up at Maura. "How often is Constance over here?"

"When she's in town, she usually comes over when I get home from work. She's been working on figuring out what she wants to do while she's here. Whether she wants to find a studio to work in or find a teaching job. I suspect she'd like to ask about doing some of the daytime babysitting, but I think she's still nervous about being alone with Ted."

"I'm sure my mother would be happy to have Constance hang with her some days," Jane suggested as she sank into the one chair in the living room.

"I know. I'm kind of waiting for my mother to ask first though. Maybe I'm being immature but I want to make her work for it a little bit." Maura took a seat on the couch and spent an unusually long time trying to find a comfortable position, finally settling with her hands clasped in her lap and saying, "So, are you still willing to talk?"

"Is this going to make me feel better or worse than I do right now?" Jane asked, mostly seriously.

"I don't know," Maura answered honestly.

"That's what I figured."

"Do you want a drink?" Maura asked.

"No, I think better pass. This feels like a conversation I'm going to need to be completely sober for."

"I've had a lot of time to myself recently," Maura started to say.

"I know, I'm sorry about-"

"Jane," Maura interrupted. "Please just listen. I wasn't trying to make you feel bad but I have spent a lot of time alone recently and in that time I've done a lot of thinking. I've realized some things in your absence and I need to communicate them to you."

"Sorry, go ahead."

Maura looked down at her lap as she spoke. "One of the things I realized is that at some point in the last year, maybe a little longer than that, I started comparing the people I dated to you. Things like whether they were as smart as you or as funny as you. Odd things too like whether they liked baseball and what their favorite food was. But eventually I realized that it wasn't just those characteristics I was looking at. I was really comparing how other people treated me to how you treat me. The past few months, what I've missed isn't just you and all the things I love about you, but the way you treat me and the effect you have on me. No one else has ever made me feel the way I feel when you are around me." Maura finally looked up at Jane. "You make me feel safe and taken care of. You make me feel loved."

"That's because I love you," Jane said simply.

Maura shook her head. "As a friend? Because that's not what I'm talking about. When I think about my future, you are the only person I can imagine spending my life with."

Jane sat forward in her seat, leaning towards Maura. "No, as much more than a friend. I guess I've had a lot of time alone to think too. To think about you and us. I treat you that way because I'm in love with you and I think I have been for a long time."

They held each other's gaze for a moment until Maura looked down again. "What do we do now?" Maura said softly.

Jane leaned back in the chair and a pained expression came over face. "Things just aren't the same anymore. I didn't sign up for a kid, Maura."

"I, quite frankly, don't understand. You're so good with Ted and right after he was born you were here with him, with me, helping to take care of him. I thought, initially at least, that you wanted to be here."

"I was helping because my brother got a girl pregnant and the baby got dumped on your doorstep. I felt guilty. If you didn't have practically my whole family running in and out of your house all the time, you wouldn't have ended up in this situation. And honestly, I didn't think you were actually going to adopt him. I thought after everything calmed down you would rethink this whole thing."

"Teddy is not a situation," Maura said angrily. "He's not something that can be returned if I change my mind. He's a baby who didn't have a single person in this world willing to take care of him. I thought you would be able to recognize how similar my own experience was to his and why I would care so much about adopting him."

"I do. I absolutely recognize that. It may have taken me longer than it should have to see it, but I completely get why you felt that way."

More calmly, Maura said, "I loved him from the moment I first held him in my arms. I want him to grow up with all of the advantages I had, but also everything I didn't have. Ted will never have to wonder if he is loved and he won't wonder who his birth parents are or why they gave him up for adoption. He will know the truth about everything and he'll also be surrounded by people who love him."

"You know that I love him. I do. But that's not the same as wanting to be his parent. I can't just jump into it like you did and I'm not sure that I want to. You rearranged your whole life and I can't do that."

"Then I have no idea what we are supposed to do now," Maura said, eyes bright with unshed tears.

"Neither do I."

Maura looked away and wiped at her eyes as she said, "It's getting late and Teddy will be up early. I think you should leave."

Jane stood slowly but Maura didn't look back up at her. At the door, Jane stopped and said, "I'm sorry." When Maura didn't say anything in return, Jane left.


	4. Chapter 4

**Adaptations**

Chapter 4

Pairing: Jane/Maura  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me.

**Warning: Spoilers for Episode 3.10. See chapter 1 for full summary.**

* * *

A few weeks went by during which Jane and Maura crossed paths a few times at work, but otherwise didn't see each other or talk at all.

After Jane left the night they last talked, Maura had cried herself to sleep on the couch, waking at 3am to Teddy crying. He was getting his first tooth and had woken up during the past few nights. Maura made her way to Teddy's room and brought him back downstairs. While she heated up some formula, she stuck a finger in Teddy's mouth. He seemed to get some relief from gnawing on her fingers.

Maura would never have anticipated how easy it would be, settling into being a mother. Six months ago she wouldn't have been able to say whether or not she definitely wanted children. When Teddy was left on her doorstep, something just clicked between them and in her mind. Since then, it had been easy some days and difficult other days, but Maura never doubted that she had made the right decision in adopting him.

She should have known it wouldn't be the same for Jane. Jane had never expressed any real interest in having kids. Looking back now, Maura realized that even from the first day Teddy was in her care, she had pictured Jane with her.

They had been circling around moving into something more than friendship for a long time. Maura was sure of that, and Jane's words had confirmed that for her. Maura assumed that Teddy wouldn't change that, but Jane clearly felt differently. Now she wasn't sure if she should pursue Jane and fight for her, or if it was better to try to move on. And now Teddy had to factor into that decision too.

* * *

Saturday afternoon, there was knocking on Jane's apartment door and when she opened it, Tommy came barging in, saying, "Jane, you gotta help me."

"What did you do now, Tommy?" Jane asked wearily.

"I didn't do anything," Tommy yelled. "Jesus, why do you always have to jump to conclusions about things being my fault?"

Jane held her hands up and said, "Okay, okay, sorry, but you're the one who barged in here saying you need my help. Just sit down and we'll talk."

Tommy sank onto the couch and said, "Sorry."

"First of all, when did you get back into town?" Jane asked as she sat down next to him on the couch.

"A few of days ago."

"Have you talked to Ma since you've been back?"

"No, not yet."

"Where are you staying?" Jane asked.

"With a friend." Jane raised her eyebrows at this and Tommy continued, "No, really. Do you remember Chris Williams from the old neighborhood? He's got a big place in Allston and he said I could crash there when I'm in town."

Jane nodded. "Okay, yeah I remember him. Now, what do you need help with?"

"I stopped by Maura's house," Tommy started.

"What happened?" Jane interrupted, her face darkening.

"I just wanted to see the kid. That's all I went there for. I asked Maura if I could see him but she said she wasn't comfortable having me there."

"Is that all that happened?" Jane said.

"Yes, I swear. Can you talk to her?" Tommy pleaded.

"What are you trying to accomplish here, Tommy?" Jane asked.

"He's my son. I just want to see him."

Jane stood and paced in front of the couch, thinking carefully about how to respond. "Teddy is not your son. You contributed the genetic material, but you are not his father. A father takes responsibility for raising his kid and you signed that responsibility over to Maura. If you go around calling him your son, Maura is never going to let you see him. Maybe you can be Uncle Tommy and when Teddy is older, Maura can choose what she wants to tell him about his birth parents. You do understand that right?"

"Yeah, I do."

"If Maura thinks you've got some idea about getting Teddy back, she's not going to want you around. And you won't get any sympathy from me," Jane added.

"Yeah, I get it. But I think Teddy should have some male role models around, you know."

"And you think you're qualified for that?" Jane asked seriously.

"You obviously don't think I am. I bet you think you could do a better job, don't you Janie?" Tommy said, jumping off the couch and yelling again.

"Jesus, Tom, you're here asking for my help, remember. I love you, Tommy. And I think you're doing a good job getting your life on track, but if you want to talk about being a role model, you have a ways to go. Plus the only thing that matters right now is that it's Maura's call how much time you get to spend with Teddy and in what capacity. You have to respect that."

"I'm leaving again in a couple of days," Tommy said. "I've got another job in Florida. I just want to see him before I go. I'm not trying to cause any problems."

Jane sighed but picked up her phone and made a call. "Hey, uh, Tommy's here with me. ... Yeah he told me. We've been talking. He's leaving again in a couple of days. ... Yeah, we've been talking about it. He understands. ... Of course. ... Okay we'll be there soon."

Jane hung up the phone and said to Tommy, "Okay, Maura said we can go over there now."

"Thanks, Jane."

"Tommy, just remember if you want to have a role in Teddy's life, you have to start small. You know, show Maura that you can be trusted with him and you know what your role is."

"Yeah, I got it."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Jane and Tommy were ringing Maura's doorbell. Maura answered the door with Teddy in her arms and let them inside.

Tommy immediately said, "Thank you, Maura. I want you to know that I'm not going to try to take Teddy away from you or anything like that."

Maura caught Jane's eye over Tommy's shoulder, but Jane just shrugged. "Thank you, Tommy. Why don't we go into the living room."

One corner of the living room had been turned into Teddy's play area and Maura sat down on the floor, setting Teddy between her outstretched legs.

"What do I do?" Tommy asked.

"Come sit in front of him. You can talk to him. If you hold out toys he'll grab them and play with them."

Tommy sat down in front of Teddy. "Hey, buddy. I'm... your Uncle Tommy," he said, holding a toy that Teddy grabbed onto and shook.

"He likes different noises. You make faces at him too. He likes that," Maura added.

Tommy continued to play with and talk to Teddy and Jane took a seat on the couch and watched. "He's kinda sitting up now. All those tummy time hours he put in are working, huh?" Jane joked.

Maura smiled wryly at Jane. She scooted back so she wasn't supporting Teddy with her body and he wobbled a bit until she steadied him with her hands again. "He's not quite ready to sit up on his own yet, but he's getting there."

"That's so cool," Tommy said enthusiastically and Jane rolled her eyes behind him.

"He's tried some soft foods too. Applesauce and canned peaches are a big hit."

They played on the floor until Teddy started getting fussy. "It's time for him to go down for a nap. Do you want to help put him to bed?" Maura asked Tommy.

"Sure," Tommy agreed and they both went upstairs.

Ten minutes later Tommy came back downstairs. "Maura will be down in a few minutes," he told Jane.

"Okay, do you need a ride anywhere?" Jane asked.

"Nah, I'm gonna go see Ma. Thanks for your help, Jane," Tommy said, giving Jane a hug.

"Take care of yourself, Tommy."

Jane sat back down on the arm of the couch and waited for Maura. When Maura came downstairs, Jane said, "You should have called me when Tommy came here earlier."

"You don't trust him?" Maura asked.

"I think he's okay with Teddy. I mean, we talked about it and you heard what he said when we got here. I didn't tell him to say that." Jane grabbed Maura's wrist so that Maura looked at her. "But I definitely don't trust him with you."

Maura let Jane's last statement pass without comment as she said, "I think I overreacted when Tommy came here earlier. I was surprised to see him and I panicked a little. Even though he and Lydia signed away their parental rights, if they changed their minds and tried to take him back, they might succeed."

"That's not going to happen," Jane said as she wrapped her arms around Maura and pulled her into a tight hug.

"It could," Maura said as she rested her head on Jane's shoulders and lightly circled Jane's waist with her arms. "Most courts favor biological parents in situations like this."

"No one is going to take Teddy from you. I promise that I won't let that happen."

Maura pulled her head back and looked up into Jane's eyes. They stayed like that, looking at each other for far longer than friends should. Jane's eyes flashed to Maura's lips and she had lowered her head just a fraction of an inch when Maura quickly pulled away and out of Jane's embrace. "Thank you for your help with Tommy. I'm sorry that you had to get involved and come over here."

"Maura-"

"Please don't," Maura interrupted.

"You don't even know what I'm going to say," Jane protested.

"I've had a stressful day already. I don't think I can't handle anything else today. Whatever you were going to say, can it just wait?"

Jane was silent for a few moments but then said, "I just want to say that I know I'm the one fucking things up right now, but that doesn't mean that you can't count on me when you need me. You can always ask me for anything you need."

"No, I can't," Maura said, shaking her head. "I can't ask you for anything I need. That's part of the dilemma I'm struggling with right now. I'm not saying that I don't want to see you at all right now, but I'm still trying to figure out what our relationship can be going forward."

"Don't I get some say in that?" Jane asked.

"You already had your say. You told me where you stand. I have to figure out where that leaves me," Maura responded.

Jane opened her mouth a few times as if she was going to say something but was unsuccessful. Finally she said, "I guess I'll just wait until I hear from you then," and then she left Maura's house.


	5. Chapter 5

**Adaptations**

Chapter 5

Pairing: Jane/Maura  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me.

**Warning: Spoilers for Episode 3.10. See chapter 1 for full summary.**

* * *

Jane and Frost were on a stake-out. They had been sitting in Frost's car for about two hours waiting for a suspect in their most recent murder case to make an appearance so they could bring him in for questioning.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Frost asked, breaking a long silence.

"Talk about what?" Jane lazily replied.

"I've delayed having this conversation for as long as I could. Trust me, I don't wanna do this. But it's been six months and you're still...like this. Moody and grumpy, and quiet. It's not like you. I know it's related to Maura and if talking about it will help you then let's talk about it."

"Give me a break, Frost. I can't talk to you about personal stuff," Jane huffed.

"Come on, Jane. I'm going out on a limb here. We're partners, you can talk to me about anything. I've talked to you about personal issues before. And frankly, you need to talk to someone. You need to get your head straight before this shit starts affecting your work. I can tell today your mind isn't all here and that's not good for either of us."

It was a fair point. Distraction was a liability in this job, and not just to herself but to Frost and anyone else working with her. Frost was a good guy and a good partner and Jane took his opinion seriously. She knew how difficult it must have been for him to say anything so if he was willing to do that, she should be willing to trust him enough to talk to him. Jane was silent for a long time as she thought about this until she finally said, "I almost kissed her."

"What?" Frost said.

"Maura. I mean, I would have kissed her but she moved away."

"Oh...um..." Frost sputtered.

"What?" Jane asked suspiciously.

"Uh, honestly, I'm surprised you and Maura haven't already kissed."

"Really?" Jane said, genuinely surprised.

"Yeah. I mean, if I had to guess what was going on with you the past few months, I would have guessed that you and Maura had been seeing each other for a little while and then something happened and that's what you were upset about."

Jane looked over at Frost in shock. "How could you think we were together when I didn't even know until recently that I would even want something like that with her?"

Frost shrugged. "I don't know but if that's not the problem, what is it? Do you wanna date her but she doesn't want to date you?"

"No, it's... Fuck! You can't tell anyone what I'm about to say. I mean, seriously, no one."

"That's what I'm here for. I'm your partner, everything stays between us. I promise."

"It's Teddy," Jane said.

"How can a baby be the problem?" Frost scoffed.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be supportive of me?"

"Sorry. Go ahead."

"I don't know, it's a lot of things. Maura made the decision to adopt a baby without talking to me at all about it. She didn't care what I thought about it. But now she wants us to, I don't know, be this little family all of the sudden."

"You don't want that with her?" Frost asked.

"I don't know what I want. I haven't had a chance to even try to figure that out. I was starting to realize that I had these feelings for her and then the whole baby thing happened and now it's all fucked up."

"It can't be that fucked up," Frost said reasonably.

"She's raising my brother's kid, for christ's sake. That's fucked up."

"You can't hold it against a baby that his father is Tommy. If there's anyone who can look past who someone's parents are it's Maura. And you should be able to do the same."

"It's not that. It's...every time I see Teddy, I see Tommy too. He looks so much like Tommy and it makes me crazy and it's not because I think Tommy's genes are going to fuck Teddy up. I hate that Tommy has that connection to Maura now. They will always have that between them unless Tommy really fucks up his life again and I definitely don't want that happen. I don't know how I fit in."

"Jane, Maura is never going to want to be with Tommy," Frost said.

"You don't know that," Jane argued.

"Based on the way Maura looks at you and interacts with you, I'm pretty damn sure you are the only Rizzoli she's interested in. I mean, if a woman as beautiful as Maura looked at me the way she looks at you, I wouldn't be worrying about anything else."

Jane rolled her eyes. "Alright, I get it."

"Maybe you should stop torturing yourself and try talking to her about all of this."

"Yeah." Before she could say anything else Jane noticed a man walking down the sidewalk toward their car. "Hey, is that our guy?"

"Looks like him."

"Let's go."

* * *

Later that afternoon. Maura went upstairs to the bullpen. Frost had called down and requested someone come up and take a sample for DNA testing of a suspect in custody. A positive result would tie the suspect to their current murder victim. Maura knew Frost expected her to send one of the crime lab techs but Maura decided it was a good excuse to go upstairs.

She found Frost in the bullpen and he took her down the hall to an interrogation room where Jane was sitting with the suspect they had just brought in. Jane tried to turn her head away when Maura entered the room but she wasn't able to hide the bruise forming under her eye. Maura just frowned at her, knowing better than to bring it up in front of a suspect.

After collecting the necessary sample, Maura and Frost left the interrogation room. "Has she at least had that looked at?" Maura asked.

"What do you think?" Frost replied.

"Will you please send her down to my office when she's done?"

"Sure."

"Don't take no for an answer."

"I'll try."

"Thanks, Barry."

A few hours later, Maura was still waiting in her office. She was almost ready to give up when there was a soft knock at her door followed by Jane entering the office and closing the door behind her.

"Hey," Jane said. "Any test results back yet?"

"No, not yet." Maura stood up and said, "What happened to your eye?"

"It's nothing. I just took an elbow to it when Frost and I arrested that suspect. "

"Did you get it looked at? Have you been icing it?" Maura moved close to Jane and looked closely at the black bruise under Jane's eye.

"I'm fine, Maura."

"Did you get checked for concussion?" Maura persisted.

"What do you think?"

"Will you let me take a look? Please?" Maura asked.

Jane just shrugged in response.

Maura pointed towards the desk and said, "Sit down there." Jane sat down on the edge of the desk. Maura took out a penlight and moved in front of Jane, standing between Jane's legs. "Look straight ahead." She shone the light in each of Jane's eyes. "Your eyes look okay. Do you have a headache or any other pain?"

"No."

Maura put the penlight down but didn't move. She brought her hands to Jane's face and started pressing under Jane's cheekbone.

"What are you doing?" Jane asked as she pulled her face back.

"I need to check for fractures," Maura answered, returning her hands to Jane's face and gently pressing her fingers against Jane's cheekbone and the slowly moving up towards Jane's eye.

"Maura," Jane said softly. It was barely more than a whisper but it caused Maura to still her movements. Maura looked down and realized how close their bodies were to each other.

"I should get you an ice pack," Maura said but before she could move, Jane put her hands on Maura's hips. The touch was light. Maura could have moved if she wanted to, but she didn't move. She looked back up at Jane and this time when Jane bent her head forward tentatively, Maura didn't pull away.

Jane moved forward the rest of the way and pressed her lips against Maura's. Maura felt Jane's hand brush across her cheek and around the back of her head and her hands found Jane's shoulders and then her neck. Mouths parted and Jane sucked Maura's bottom lip gently into her mouth before pulling back for breath.

"We shouldn't-" Maura started to say but then Jane's lips were on hers again. Parted lips gave way to the tentative exploration of tongues and Maura leaned her body into Jane.

"What are we doing?" Maura asked breathlessly when they parted again.

"Can you give me another chance?" Jane asked.

Maura shook her head in confusion. "Another chance for what?"

"To do things right. To do what I should have done a long time ago. I know I've really messed up. I haven't supported you the way I should have the past few months. I haven't treated you the way I want to or the way you deserve to be treated. I know you said were trying to figure things out and I said I would wait, but I don't want to give up so easily. So I'm asking if you will give me another chance?"

"I...I don't know," Maura said, stepping away and turning her back on Jane. "I can't just think about myself anymore, Jane. I have to consider the impact on Ted too. Do you want to know what I have been wondering?" Maura asked, turning back around to look at Jane.

"Yeah," Jane responded.

"What if we had done this a year ago? I mean, what if we had already been dating when Ted came into our lives? Would you have supported me wanting to adopt him? Where would the two of us be now?"

"I thought you didn't like what ifs."

"I don't," Maura said, shaking her head. "But a lot has changed. I have to consider all of the what ifs now." Maura was silent for a few moments, obviously deep in thought, and Jane stayed silent too. "We have to take things slow," Maura eventually said.

"Of course," Jane agreed.

"In a certain sense, we have to get to know each other all over again."

"Under new circumstances," Jane added, nodding her head.

"Will you come over on Saturday?" Maura asked.

"Yes."

"Okay, it's a date," Maura said with a smile.


	6. Chapter 6

**Adaptations**

Chapter 6

Pairing: Jane/Maura  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me.

**Warning: Spoilers for Episode 3.10. See chapter 1 for full summary.**

* * *

The next morning, Jane went to Maura's house before going to work but late enough that she knew Maura would already be gone.

Angela answered the door with Teddy on her hip and a concerned look on her face. "Jane, is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, Ma," Jane said calmly as she slipped by her mother into the house.

"What happened to your eye?"

"Oh, it was nothing. It's fine. Maura looked at it yesterday."

"She's not here now, if that's why you're here."

"I know. I have a favor to ask you," Jane said.

"Here, take him for a second," Angela said, handing Teddy to Jane. "Maura was running late this morning and you caught me in the middle of cleaning up breakfast. What's the favor?"

"Will you watch Teddy Saturday evening?" Jane asked. "I want to take Maura out to dinner."

"Sure. Is it a special occasion?" Angela asked she turned to the sink to take care of breakfast dishes.

"Not exactly," Jane said while trying to figure out what to do with Teddy.

"Are you celebrating something?" Angela persisted.

"Um, me getting my head out of my ass, I guess."

Angela paused what she was doing to turn to look at Jane. "Are you trying to tell me that you're taking Maura out on a date?"

"Maybe. I mean, I think so. But I want to surprise Maura so don't tell her, okay?"

"I'm proud of you, Jane."

"I appreciate that, Ma. But I don't think I deserve that."

"Don't be too hard on yourself," Angela said, turning back to the dishes. "Not everyone can just jump right into taking care of a child."

Jane had stood Teddy up on the kitchen island and was holding him up around his midsection while he bounced on his feet. "Well, you and Maura didn't have any problems with it. Maura is so natural with him and I have no idea what I'm doing. How did you know you wanted to have kids?"

"I don't know, honey," Angela answered lightly. "That's just what everyone I knew did. Get married and have kids."

"Ma, I'm asking you this seriously. It's not that I don't like kids or even want to have them. But I don't feel this overwhelming need to. Right now, when I think about having kids, having to be responsible for a baby twenty-four hours a day, it scares the crap out of me. You were and still are an amazing mother, and I know you loved raising kids. I don't believe you had kids just because it's what people did. I don't think you would have enjoyed it or been as good at it if that was the case."

Angela had dried her hands and come to stand next to Jane while Jane was talking. "Be patient and it will come. Most parents get to prepare before the baby arrives. Then they learn at the same time their child is growing and learning. And fear is normal. Just put in the time with Maura and Teddy and you'll see. It will become natural for you too."

Teddy was bouncing the whole time Jane was holding him up, looking around the room and occasionally kicking out a foot in a random direction or squatting down until Jane straightened him up again. "He's a wiggly little guy, huh?"

"Just like Tommy was," Angela said, shaking her head. "Your brother never sat still for more than a few seconds. I used to think it was me, that I was just too tired to deal with a third kid. But Teddy is the same. As soon as he can crawl he's never going to stop moving."

"What's this?" Jane asked, nodding towards the photo album sitting on Maura's island.

"Pictures of you and Frankie and Tommy when you were babies. I wanted to show Maura the resemblance to Teddy."

"Oh. I should probably get going," Jane said, handing Teddy off to Angela. She gave her mother a kiss on the cheek and said, "Thank you. I'll see you Saturday."

* * *

Jane returned to Maura's house Saturday evening. "Hey, little buddy," Jane said dropping to the floor and sitting cross legged in front of Teddy where he was sitting in his play area.

She was greeted with a big smile from Teddy followed by him blowing a 'pbbbt' sound through his mouth a few times.

"Good to see you too kid," Jane deadpanned.

"He is quite proud that he figured out how to make that noise," Maura said, brushing her hand down Jane's arm as she sat down next to Jane on the floor.

"As he should be. It's quite impressive," Jane joked.

"The bruise under your eye looks like it's healing fine. Do you have any pain?"

"No, it's fine." Jane said, brushing Maura's hands away from her face. "He's going to be crawling soon, huh?" she said, watching Teddy prop himself up on both hands and knees and rock back and forth in place. "He looks like a race car getting ready to take off."

"He's almost there. Which means I really have to baby proof the house. I've only done his room so far," Maura said with a sigh.

"I can help. You'll just have to tell me what to do. I can do it tomorrow."

"Thank you. I've been meaning to do it but he's been waking up a lot in the middle of the night because he's teething and I haven't had the energy to do it in the evening when he's in bed.

"Maur, you don't have to thank me. I want to help. But you," Jane said, picking up Teddy and lifting him above her head until he was laughing, "need to let your Mama sleep, little buddy. She's an important lady and she needs her rest, okay?" Jane lay down on her back and with her arms straight out in front of her moved Teddy up and down and from side to side as he continued to laugh.

Jane looked over at Maura and saw she was frowning. "Hey, what's wrong? Is this not okay?"

"No, it's great. He loves it. It's just," Maura paused and shook her head. "He looks just like you."

"What? No he doesn't," Jane said, incredulous as she looked back and forth between Teddy and Maura, who looked like she was about to cry.

"He does. He has your cheekbones and the dimple in his chin. And his eyes. His are lighter in color now, but the shape is yours. I bet they'll darken to your brown."

Maura got up and brought over the photo album Jane had noticed before. Maura opened the album to a specific page and set it down on the floor in front of Jane who was now sitting up again and holding Teddy against her.

"See, Ted looks just like you did as a baby," Maura said, pointing to a photo. "It was hard when we weren't really talking to look at him and see you. It was... it was just difficult."

Jane pulled the photo out of its sleeve and turned it over, confirming by the description and date written on the back by her mother that it was in fact her around six months old. Before she could say anything in response, Teddy started crying. "Oh, kiddo, do you want your mama?"

"He's probably just ready for bed," Maura said, glancing at her watch.

"Oh, okay," Jane said, happy to change the topic of conversation. She stood and said, "Let's get him to bed then."

Half an hour later Jane had received her first initiation into Teddy's bedtime routine and they were back in the upstairs hallway. "So, do you wanna order some dinner?" Maura said softly.

"Actually, I have a surprise for you. Ma is going to come over so we can go out to dinner."

"Oh, Jane, that's so nice. But your mother does so much already."

"Don't worry. She'll just sit here and watch TV, no different than if she was at her house. Taking care of her grandchildren so her children can go out and enjoy themselves is like a perfect evening for her."

"I, um... Just let me change," Maura said.

"No. I mean, you look great. There will be other opportunities to get dressed up. But we're just going to do something simple. And I like this casual look on you too," Jane said, taking in Maura's simple outfit of jeans and a waffle knit henley.

When they went downstairs Angela was already sitting on the couch. Maura turned on the baby monitor and thanked Angela profusely before Jane managed to get her in her coat and pull her out the door. "I thought we'd just walk down to Charles Street and pick a restaurant," Jane said. "You said you wanted to take things slow and I have no idea what that means. So this can be two friends going out for dinner or more than that if that's what you want."

Maura didn't say anything in response. Instead she took hold of Jane's hand, lacing their fingers together, and set off down the street.

Once they settled on a restaurant and were seated and ordered, Maura said, "May I ask you something?"

"Of course," Jane answered.

"During the few months when we weren't spending time together, what did you do in your free time?"

Jane laughed. "Uh, sat on my couch and felt sorry for myself."

"Really?" Maura said, laughing in response.

"Yeah, what did you think I was doing, partying?" Jane said sarcastically.

"I didn't know what to think. That's why I asked."

Jane looked away as she said, "I was sad and lonely. And confused. And a little angry."

"What about now?" Maura asked.

"I'm working on it. I, uh...I guess I kind of felt like I was being replaced. Which is stupid. I know how stupid that sounds. But, you were with a baby for a few minutes and all of the sudden you're ready to be his mother. And it was so natural for you. I'm sorry, really sorry, that I wasn't feeling that too. I'm still not all the way there, but now I know for sure what I want. I want to be with you and Teddy. I'm going to be here for you now. If it's just as your best friend, that's okay. I do want more, but I'll be whatever you need me to be. And with Teddy, Ma said I should be patient and it will become natural for me too."

"You talked to your mother about this?" Maura asked, obviously surprised.

Jane nodded.

Maura took a moment before saying, "I did expect you to be ready to jump right into raising a kid with me and then I was mad at you for not being there. I was thinking about us as if we were already a couple. That wasn't fair to you. I'm sorry, I haven't been fair to you at all. I'm going to make it up to. And you can stop apologizing and stop blaming yourself. Please stop feeling bad about the past few months. All that matters now is what happens going forward."

The waitress arrived with their food and then Jane lifted her beer and said, "To starting over and going slow." Maura raised her wine glass and clicked it against Jane's bottle.

After dinner they walked around for a little while, stopping at another shop for dessert before walking back to Maura's house.

At the front door, Maura stopped before going inside and turned around towards Jane. "This was really nice. Thank you." Maura bit her bottom lip and then said, "Are you going to spend the night?"

"If you're inviting me."

"Will you stay?" Maura asked.

"Yes," Jane said, stepping closer.

Maura pulled Jane the rest of the way towards her into a kiss. It was more heated, more passionate, than their last kiss. Jane's hands went to Maura's hips under her jacket and pulled their bodies flush against each other.

When they broke apart for air, Jane said, "We should go inside before my mother comes to check on us."

"Oh," Maura said. "She would do that?"

"Yup."

"Okay." Maura straightened her jacket and they went inside the house.

Angela greeted them with a big smile and said, "Did you have a nice time? Teddy's been asleep the whole time."

"Yes, it was very nice to be able to go out. Thank you so much, Angela," Maura said while fidgeting nervously.

Jane watched Maura's fidgeting curiously, but said, "Go ahead upstairs, Maur. I'll just be a minute."

Angela raised her eyebrows at Jane after Maura left, with an appreciative nod to Jane, and said, "Staying the night, huh? Do you need any advice?"

Jane grimaced. "Eew, no. Please never say anything like that again to me. And nothing other than sleep is going to happen up there tonight. We are taking things slow, okay?"

"I think that's nice."

"Thanks, Ma. For helping tonight and for the talk we had earlier."

"I love you, Janie."

"I love you too, Ma."

Angela left and Jane went upstairs. Her and Maura both got ready for bed and once in bed, Jane said, "Are you okay?"

"I just realized that if we are pursuing a romantic relationship that it could get awkward with Angela. I mean if she asks me questions about, you know, what we do, I can't lie."

Jane turned on her side towards Maura who was on her back. Jane moved against Maura's side and slung an arm over Maura's midsection. "Let's just hope she only asks once."

"Is that the best we can hope for?" Maura asked.

"Probably," Jane answered, nuzzling her face against Maura's shoulder. "Goodnight, Maura."

Maura turned so her back was to Jane and Jane was spooning her. "Goodnight, Jane."


	7. Chapter 7

**Adaptations**

Chapter 7

Pairing: Jane/Maura  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me.

**Warning: Spoilers for Episode 3.10. See chapter 1 for full summary.**

* * *

The next morning Maura woke up curled against Jane's side, arm draped across Jane's stomach. Jane was asleep on her back, breathing evenly. It was early, but late enough that Teddy could wake up at any moment. Maura thought he might sleep a little later this morning after a week of poor sleep because of teething. Last night was the first night he slept through the night in the past week.

Maura slipped her hand underneath Jane's t-shirt and ghosted her fingers across Jane's abdomen. Jane squirmed as Maura increased the pressure of her fingers and she woke up with a smile on her face. "What are you doing?"

"Does that tickle?" Maura asked.

"Tickle? Kind of, I guess. Some people might say it was stimulating in a different way."

"Oh," Maura said, grinning. She propped herself on an elbow so she was looking down at Jane and pressed a kiss to her lips.

"I probably have morning breath," Jane said.

"I encounter far grosser things on a daily basis."

Jane wrinkled her nose. "That's not reassuring."

"Teddy could wake up any minute. You'll have to learn to make the most of the time we have when he's asleep, Jane." Maura leaned down again and kissed Jane more forcefully.

Jane responded in kind, looping her arm around Maura's back and slipping her hand under Maura's shirt to stroke the bare skin of her back as she parted her lips to give Maura's tongue access.

Maura shivered as Jane's hand brushed across her bare skin. She moved a leg between Jane's legs so she was partially laying on top of Jane and moved her lips to Jane's neck.

Jane tilted her head back, giving Maura full access to her neck. Her eyes fluttered closed when Maura's leg pressed higher. But when Maura's hand slid down to her hip, which was covered only by the thin fabric of her underwear, and Maura's fingers brushed the bare skin of the top of her thigh, Jane eyes snapped back open. Jane grabbed Maura's shoulders and pushed her up. "Hey, there's no rush, you know. Taking it slow is fine."

Maura bit her bottom lip as she took in the sight of a flushed Jane laying below her. "You're right, I said slow. We should go slow." Maura rolled off of Jane and onto her side. "I don't think I know what slow means when it comes to sex. I'm used to having sex right away with people."

"Eew. I don't think I wanted to hear that."

"Jane," Maura said seriously as she put her hand over Jane's, which were now clasped on her stomach. "I haven't had sex in a year and a half."

"Oh," Jane said, eyes widening. "That's...uh, actually kind of a lot of pressure."

"Why?"

"Well, um, what if I can't, you know, perform satisfactorily and your first time with me after all that time isn't good?"

Teddy's cries came over the baby monitor and Maura chuckled and said, "Sorry. We'll have to continue this conversation later." Maura climbed out of bed and put on a robe. At the door Maura turned back and said, "Jane, you shouldn't worry. The past several months, whenever I masturbated, I was always thinking about you."

Jane's jaw dropped open and before she could formulate a response, Maura was down the hallway in Teddy's room.

Jane jumped in the shower. She needed a few minutes to clear her head, but not from the crazy sexiness that was Maura. Not because she spent the night with Maura. Maura who wanted her, really wanted her. But because she was going to walk downstairs to Maura and her child, and if she wanted to, she could just step into her place in this little family.

It was overwhelming.

Jane realized she was very near the point of no return. The point at which she had to make up her mind, decide if she could do the whole relationship and a kid thing. She couldn't commit to this now and change her mind in a few months or a few years without really hurting Maura.

But so far this morning felt really right. And right now the thought of going downstairs and taking care of a baby wasn't completely terrifying. That realization was kind of overwhelming too, but in a good way.

Jane finished her shower, dressed, and went downstairs to the kitchen in which there was a surprising amount of activity. Teddy was reclining in his new high chair at the end of the island making a surprising amount of noise. Maura's fancy coffee maker was making all sorts of noise as it did whatever it did. Maura was moving around on the other side of the island, preparing his bottle, cutting up some unidentifiable food, and spooning something else into a small bowl.

Jane sat down on the stool next to Teddy and waited for some instruction from Maura.

"Coffee will be done soon. Will you feed him his breakfast so I can take a quick shower?" Maura asked.

"Yeah, sure."

Maura placed the dishes of food in front of Jane and handed her the bottle. "Here is his bottle. Let him finish that first. He's starting to hold it by himself but he might need some help. You might need to help him hold it up or just hold it completely depending on his mood."

"Okay."

"When he's done with that, this bowl is applesauce. You can give him small bites on this spoon. He can eat as much as he wants. If he doesn't want that you can try giving him this tofu. See if he'll pick it up and put it in his mouth himself. If not you can use the spoon."

"Okay, I got it," Jane said.

Maura started to leave to go upstairs but first came back and bent down to give Jane a kiss on the cheek and said, "Thank you."

Jane watched her go upstairs and then leaned towards Teddy, holding the bottle up to his mouth. He wrapped his hands around the bottle but Jane kept her fingertips on the bottom of it so it didn't fall down.

After a minute of silence while Teddy drank, Jane said, "Hey, little buddy. You're going to be seeing a lot of more of me around now, I think. We're going to really get to know each other. When you're older and you learn how we're related and how you and your mom and me all ended up together, it's probably going to seem a little weird. But your family is a little weird so you'll probably just be used to it."

Jane picked up one of the tiny cut up pieces of cold tofu and popped it in her mouth. "Mmm, not bad."

Meanwhile, Maura stood in the shower, just letting the hot water wash over her. It was the first time in a while that she'd been able to stay in the shower as long as she wanted to without worrying if Teddy was going to be awake and waiting for her.

She thought about relieving the tension she'd built up that morning with Jane, but decided against it. It had been a long time since she had felt any significant arousal or sexual desire for another person and she decided to savor that feeling for a little while longer.

When Maura went back downstairs she hesitated for a moment at the bottom of the stairs and watched Jane and Teddy. Jane was wiping off his face and hands with a washcloth and talking to him, her voice too soft for Maura to hear what was being said.

Jane was so good with Ted. Even though Jane had told Maura she thought Maura was natural with him, to Maura it never felt that way. Not that it didn't feel natural to love him because it did. She loved him wholly and completely. But feeling comfortable mothering him didn't feel natural and she was constantly worrying about it.

Maura read every book on mothering and child development she could find. She could list every developmental milestone Teddy would hit, practically by the day. But she was still constantly worried that it wouldn't be enough. That she would repeat the mistakes her own adoptive parents made. That Teddy would grow up doubting her love for him.

Jane lifted Teddy out of his high chair and put him on her hip to move to his living room play area.

Maura stepped into the room and said, "Are you two doing okay?"

"Yeah," Jane said, looking up with a smile. "We're getting along great."

"At this age babies are usually interested in everyone and everything around them. In a few months he'll probably be a lot more discriminating."

"So, you're saying I could be anybody feeding him right now and he wouldn't care. But in a few months he's going to hate me?" Jane said with a grin as she set Teddy down on the floor and sat down next to him.

Maura grinned in response at Jane's teasing. "Hate is a little strong. But he will probably go through a period where he is more attached to his mother and other people he is most familiar with, and he won't to be taken care of by other people."

"How many books have you read about babies?" Jane asked.

"A lot," Maura admitted. "Would you like to read some?"

"I think I like hearing all this info from you. But maybe," Jane said with a shrug.

After a minute of watching Jane and Teddy play Maura said, "You don't need the books. You are really wonderful with him."

"What? I have no idea what I'm doing," Jane protested.

"You don't need to know anything special, you are just good with him, just like you are with all people."

"Maura, I'm just doing what you told me to do. If he started crying, or whatever, I wouldn't know what to do."

"Yes, you would. You would help him just as you would with anyone you encountered you needed help." Maura shook her head. "I doubt you could even understand how unnatural that is for me or how difficult it is for me to determine the right thing to say or do when I'm interacting with people. People who need comfort or emotional support are the most difficult."

"Come here," Jane said, patting the floor next to her. Maura made a pouting face but sat down. Jane took hold of one of Maura's hands. "I've seen you with him. You're his mom. When he's hurt or sad he's going to come to you and you are going to comfort him. And it's not even going to matter what you do or say as long as you are there. Because you are his mom."

"Are you being serious right now or are just saying the thing you know will make me feel better?"

Jane resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Completely serious, sweetie."

Maura squeezed Jane's hand. "I think that if you and I were to combine our skills we make a pretty good team."

"We always do," Jane agreed.

"I'm going to make breakfast," Maura said as she stood back up.

"Awesome," Jane said, watching Maura walk away. "After breakfast I'm going to baby-proof the house, after you tell me what that means."

"I think my mother might be returning to Boston today, so we may see her," Maura said from the kitchen.

"Okay," Jane called back and then went back to playing with Teddy.


	8. Chapter 8

**Adaptations**

Chapter 8

Pairing: Jane/Maura  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me.

**Warning: Spoilers for Episode 3.10. See chapter 1 for full summary.**

* * *

Over the next few weeks, Maura and Jane settled into something of a routine. At least as much as they could given Jane's unpredictable schedule. It largely resembled their routine from before Teddy came into their lives.

Maura's house, especially after Angela moved into the guest house, had become the place everyone migrated to after work and on weekends. Maura loved the way Jane started her treating her house like her own home and how it then became the gathering place for their friends and the Rizzoli family. It became the kind of home Maura hadn't experienced growing up but had always hoped for.

The house had felt emptier without Jane around but now they were getting back into that natural routine. Jane came over after work when she didn't have a new case keeping her busy. Sometimes she brought food but more often than not Maura made dinner or they made dinner together. Jane didn't always make it there by Teddy's bedtime but when she did, she made sure to play with him and sometimes put him to bed. Maura let Jane take the lead in how much she wanted to help with Teddy.

Sometimes Jane spent the night but since their Sunday morning conversation about sex Jane had let Maura take the lead on their physical relationship and so far they hadn't gone any further. There was cuddling and fairly chaste kisses but that was it.

* * *

It was Saturday afternoon and they had spent the day with Constance, who had been in the city for a couple of weeks and just started a new teaching position at a local college. When Maura went upstairs to put Teddy down for his afternoon nap, Constance sat down across from Jane in the living room and said, "Can we talk frankly?"

"I guess," Jane agreed.

"I'm sure you remember our encounter the first time we met," Constance started. "You were very straightforward about how you felt about my relationship with Maura. You were right, of course, and I've been working hard to become better at showing Maura how much I love her. I think that Maura and I are closer now than we have ever been. I hope that being in Boston more will make us even closer. I found a place to live and a job in Boston so that I could be here for my grandson but also for my relationship with Maura."

"I think that's great," Jane said.

"I hope you don't mind if I am as equally straightforward with you right now as you were with me?" Constance asked.

"No, I don't mind," Jane answered warily.

"You and Maura were close. I had my suspicions but I never asked Maura any questions about the nature of her relationship with you. I was, however, shocked to hear that after she adopted Ted, the two of you had some sort of falling out."

"It wasn't really a falling out," Jane interjected.

"From Maura's perspective I think it was. I don't think she understood what had happened between the two of you," Constance continued. "I'm not putting all of the blame on you, Jane, but all of the information I have about the situation came from Maura, and I am, of course, biased. Now I understand that there has been a reconciliation and the two of you are contemplating or perhaps are already undertaking a more serious relationship."

"We are taking steps in that direction," Jane confirmed.

"Then you will have to forgive me if I am not overly enthusiastic about that prospect. Don't misunderstand me, Jane, this has nothing to do with you being a woman, or a police officer, or any silly notions some people might have about social status. It's because you are already abandoned Maura once. I'm sure you have all the right intentions now. I'm even sure that you love her. But it is going to be a long time before I trust you to not abandon her again."

Jane felt the tightness creeping into her chest again and looked down to find her hands balled into fists in her lap. She unclenched her hands and took a measured breath before saying, "I did not abandon Maura. This is a complicated situation. It seems like you of all people should be able to relate to that. But don't you think I've already had this exact conversation with myself?"

Constance took a moment to respond. "I don't know. What I do know is that if you make promises to her of love and commitment and you don't follow through this time, you will not be able to undo the hurt and damage it will cause."

Jane leaned forward in her chair and keeping her voice low, said angrily, "I could say a lot of things about how little right you have to talk to me this way just because now you've decided you want to be a part of Maura's life. I'm the one who has always been here for Maura and the last thing I ever want to do is hurt her. That's why we are taking things slow right now."

"I'm concerned that Maura is not taking it as slow as you are," Constance responded.

Jane saw Maura coming back downstairs and she used the opportunity to stand up and move into the kitchen. She grabbed a glass and stood at the sink, filling the glass with water and taking slow sips from it to make herself calm down.

Maura looked at Jane with concern but turned her attention to her mother, who was also standing.

"I should go back to my apartment, darling," Constance said. "It's been a busy couple of weeks and I'm still trying to get settled."

"Okay, mother. Are we going to see you tomorrow?"

"Perhaps. I'll call you in the morning."

Maura walked her mother to the front door to say goodbye, not missing the fact that Jane and her mother didn't say goodbye to each other, and then returned to the kitchen, finding Jane still standing at the kitchen sink. Maura rubbed her hand down Jane's back. "Are you okay? Did my mother say something rude to you?"

Jane barked a laugh. "Not rude, exactly. But she did express her feelings about me. She doesn't trust me. With you. If it was anyone else but me she was talking about I would appreciate her concern."

"That's exactly why I trust you, Jane," Maura said, moving her hand to Jane's upper arm and squeezing.

Jane put her glass down in the sink and turned towards Maura. "I don't want to make promises to you that I can't keep."

"Jane, you don't have to make any promises. You aren't," Maura paused, searching for the right words. "You aren't on probation with me. You aren't being tested and you don't have to prove anything to me. If I've given you that impression, I'm sorry. I don't know what my mother said, but I'm not a delicate flower that is going to fall apart if I'm not perfectly taken care of. We've been taking things slow for a reason. We're still adapting and it's not going to go perfectly."

Jane smiled and shook her head. "Since when are you okay with things not being perfect?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

Jane brushed a hand across Maura's stomach to her hip and Maura gasped and whimpered slightly in response. "Are you okay? Are you hurt or something?" Jane asked, immediately concerned.

"No," Maura said, blushing. "I'm just... sensitive... recently." Maura closed her eyes and continued, "When you touch me, I feel it everywhere."

Jane closed the distance between them and leaned forward to kiss Maura softly. Maura pulled Jane's hips against hers as she deepened the kiss and it was a good few minutes before they finally broke apart, leaning against each other and breathing heavily.

"I've been waiting," Jane said, "for you to make the next move since our last conversation about taking this stuff slowly."

Maura's hands, which had threaded into Jane's hair a moment ago, wrapped around the back of Jane's neck. "I think I'm ready to make that move. Are you ready?" Maura asked.

"I think so."

Maura pulled out of Jane's embrace and stepped away, almost as if she was afraid Jane's physical proximity would hinder her next statement. "Not yet, though. I want us to be able to take our time and not be rushed or interrupted."

Jane nodded her understanding.

* * *

After Teddy woke up from his nap, Jane fed him and then played with him while Maura worked on their dinner. Jane was trying to coax Teddy into crawling, sitting a few feet from him while he got into a crawling position and then refused to move any farther.

"I swear, he's just doing this to spite me," Jane called out to Maura. "He's been ready to crawl for like two weeks and he just sits there in that position like he's taunting me."

Maura appeared behind Jane and smiled at both of them. "I would say you're being ridiculous, but perhaps you're right. He may just be as stubborn as you are."

"Hey," Jane protested jokingly.

"Our dinner is going to be ready soon. Do you want to put him to bed?"

"Sure. Come on little monster," Jane said, scooping up Teddy. "Time for bed."

When Jane returned downstairs, the ambiance had changed significantly. The lights were dimmed in favor of candlelight. Their places were set at the dining room table, which was rarely used these days as they tended to eat at the kitchen island where Teddy's high chair was set up. Maura handed Jane a beer and gestured for her to take a seat.

"I feel like I've been played," Jane said. "How long has this been planned?"

"It wasn't planned, but I thought it would be nice," Maura said, setting a plate of food in front of Jane and taking her own seat.

"It is. It's really nice. Everything looks great. Thank you," Jane said but then fell silent as she started eating.

Maura stayed silent too as they ate, but it made her increasingly nervous. Finally she said, "I hope you aren't dwelling on what my mother said. She doesn't know what she's talking about."

"No, she doesn't, but that isn't what I was thinking about. Aside from your mother, it was a good day. It was an easy day. I mean, I um, wasn't worrying the whole time if I was doing something wrong or going to mess up with Ted. It just felt normal."

"Is normal a good thing?"

"Yeah, it's a good thing." Jane stood up and said, "Go relax in the living room. I'll clean up the kitchen."

Maura stood too and with a hand on Jane's wrist stopped her before she picked up their dishes. Maura cupped Jane's face and pulled her down into a kiss. "Actually, if you don't mind, I'd love to go upstairs and take a bath."

"Oh, yeah, of course."

"Thank you. You'll come upstairs when you're done, right?" Maura asked.

"Yes, I'll be up soon."

Maura gave Jane one last quick kiss and then went upstairs. Jane took a deep breath and then went to work on the dishes.


	9. Chapter 9

**Adaptations**

Chapter 9

Pairing: Jane/Maura  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me.

**Warning: Spoilers for Episode 3.10. See chapter 1 for full summary.**

* * *

Jane spent as much time cleaning up dinner as she could. She loaded the dishwasher, washed pots and pans, wiped down the counters, and even cleaned the sink, all in the hopes that Maura would be out of the bath by the time Jane finished and went upstairs. She was nervous about how things were going to go once she got up there and having Maura naked and wet and waiting for her wasn't helping her nerves.

Finally, when she thought enough time must have passed, Jane went upstairs to Maura's bedroom, hoping to find Maura there, but without luck. The bathroom door was cracked open and Jane went to it and knocked softly and said, "Maura, I'm gonna take a shower in the guest bathroom, okay?"

"I'm almost done if you want to use this shower," Maura replied.

"That's okay, I'll just take a quick shower in the other room," Jane said practically ran out of the room before Maura could respond again.

Maura finished her bath and then took her time drying off, moisturizing, and getting dressed. She put on matching black silk and lace bra and panties and then covered up with a silk robe.

In the bedroom Maura turned down the covers and waited for Jane. Despite her outward appearance of confidence, Maura was just as nervous as Jane was about the step they were about to take.

Jane came back to the bedroom shortly and looked almost embarrassed as she got into her side of the bed, wearing only a tank top and and her underwear, and said softly, "Hey."

The sat unmoving next to each other and finally after an awkward moment of silence, Maura blurted out, "Do you think I'm sexy?"

That helped break the tension as Jane immediately sought to reassure Maura. "Of course I do."

"I have trouble reading you. I know you love me but there are many types of love. Even romantic love can exist without sexual attraction."

"Maura, you are so beautiful and I think you're the sexiest woman I've ever seen."

"Still? Even though I have a child?" Maura asked.

"Of course. Why would that change anything?"

"Well, I spend a lot of my time doing baby related things and dealing with things like diapers and baby food. None of that is sexy so I often don't feel very sexy. And recently I haven't been receiving the kind of attention I'm used to receiving."

"What do you mean?" Jane asked warily.

"When I'm out, even just doing simple things like going to grocery store, I used to get a lot of positive attention and now it either doesn't happen or if someone starts flirting with me it fizzles out as soon as they realize I have a child," Maura explained.

"So you're worried that I don't find you sexy because not as many people have been flirting with recently?" Jane said, seeking to clarify Maura's concern. "Do you think that could be because they think that if you have a child you also have a significant other?"

"I've considered that possibility. It's a reasonable hypothesis. But I don't have enough empirical evidence to make any conclusions."

Jane just shook her head. "Well, it doesn't matter anyway. I don't intend to give anyone else a chance to be with you."

"You don't?"

"No, I love you and I want to be here as long as you'll have me."

Maura turned on her side towards Jane. Jane mirrored Maura's actions so they were nearly touching noses. "This is a big step for us," Maura said. "But I'm ready."

Jane pulled on one end of the sash holding Maura's robe closed to untie the sash. The robe fell open, revealing Maura's lingerie. "I, uh, yeah, you're really sexy."

Maura pushed Jane on her back shifted on top of her, entwining their legs but holding her upper body above Jane. "You are simply gorgeous. Your body is spectacular. And your hair...I want to tangle my fingers in your hair and never let go." To emphasize her point Maura threaded her fingers on either side of Jane's head and leaned down to kiss Jane. It was hard, passionate, consuming.

Maura then kissed across Jane's jaw to her ear and whispered, "You're allowed to touch me too."

Jane almost laughed. She was so focused on what Maura was doing her own hands sat limply at her sides. But now she slid them under Maura's robe and around her back. "Your skin is so soft." Jane ran her hands up Maura's back and then the backs of her fingers down Maura's sides to her ass.

Maura mouth had made its way to Jane's neck but now she sat back so she was kneeling between Jane's legs and shrugged her robe off, letting it drop to the floor next to the bed. "Sit up," she said, taking Jane's hand and pulling her up too.

Maura slowly pulled Jane's tank top up and over her head and then traced her fingers over Jane's bare chest and breasts until she was palming Jane's breasts and Jane was arching into her hands. Maura moved closer and kissed Jane again.

Jane's hands traveled up Maura's back again and unhooked and removed Maura's bra. She kissed down Maura's neck as she her hands roamed the over the newly exposed breasts. Jane moved her mouth to a nipple, circling it with her tongue before sucking it to a hard point and then moving to the other nipple to do the same.

Jane's hands wandered down Maura's back and until she was cupping Maura's ass. She pulled down Maura's panties as far as she could when Maura pushed Jane back against the bed again. Maura finished taking off her panties and then pulled off Jane's before moving back on top of Jane, pressing their fully naked bodies together for the first time.

Maura took Jane's hand and placed it between her own legs. "I want us to do it together our first time."

Jane nodded, unable to form words as her fingers glided between between Maura's legs. Both women moaned when Maura's hand made contact between Jane's legs and slipped easily inside. It was only moments before they both collapsed on the bed physically spent.

* * *

In the morning, Jane got out of bed when she heard Teddy start to make noise and before Maura even stirred. Jane brought Ted downstairs to the kitchen where Angela was sitting with a cup of coffee.

"Hey, Ma," Jane greeted her with a kiss to the cheek.

"Hi, honey. So, you spent the night," Angela said with a hint of teasing in her voice.

"I spend the night a lot, which you are well aware of, and that's all the information you need," Jane said, turning away and pretending to fuss with Ted's high chair to hide the blush she was afraid might appear on her face. "What are you doing over here so early?"

"Maura has better coffee."

Jane moved around the kitchen, making Ted's bottle and then pouring herself a cup of coffee. She shook her at the coffee comment. As far she was concerned coffee was coffee, it didn't matter how it tasted as long as it had caffeine in it.

"So, it looks like things are going well with Maura," Angela pressed.

"They are."

"What about with Teddy?"

Jane took a moment to think before saying, "I think it's going really well. I think Ted and I are getting used to each other. You were right, I just needed time. Some days it even feels natural."

"I'm so proud of you Janie."

"Come on, Ma. You don't have to get sappy."

"Yes I do. I know I nagged you a lot about having a family. I really should have guessed that you wouldn't have a family in a conventional way. I'm so proud of you and happy that you and Maura and Teddy all found your way to each other."

Jane opened one of the organic baby foods Maura insisted on buying and sat down in front of Ted to feed him. "Well, I should really tell you more often how much I appreciate everything you've done for Maura by taking care of Teddy. Because I really do appreciate everything you do."

"I'm happy to do it. You know you can give me more grandbabies any time. I can't have too many," Angela said, squeezing Jane's shoulder and pressing a kiss to her head.

"Yeah, yeah. Go talk to Frankie."

"Good morning," Maura said as she entered the kitchen. "I didn't hear you get up, Jane. Was Ted crying?"

Jane couldn't help but smile at Maura's appearance. She looked sleepy and kind of disheveled and, Jane thought, thoroughly satisfied. "Yes, and you were totally out of it," Jane answered and got a small smile from Maura in return.

"I'm gonna go." Angela said. "I'll see you girls later."

"Bye, Ma," Jane called out as Angela left.

Maura came over to Jane to give her a quick kiss, but Jane slipped her hand inside Maura's robe and held her close. "You look so hot right now. I like this disheveled look." Jane said.

Maura ran her fingers through her hair but didn't say anything.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Jane asked.

"When I woke up and you weren't in bed..." Maura started, trailing off before finishing her thought.

"You thought I ran out on you," Jane finished for her.

"Only for a second."

"It's okay. I probably would have thought the same thing."

"No, it's not okay. I told you that you don't have to prove yourself to me and I meant it. Some part of my unconscious mind isn't in agreement, but I don't want to hide anything I'm thinking or feeling from you."

"I think we'd be better off not spending too much time dwelling on stuff like that. We're both going to continue to have our fears, whether they are rational or not and we'll keep getting past them. Hey, why don't you take him and I'll make us some breakfast."

Maura took Ted into the living room and Jane set to work making omelets and more coffee.

About ten minutes later Jane heard Maura yelling, "Jane, Jane, come here, quick."

Jane rushed into the other room, expecting to see some sort of catastrophe happening. "What is it?"

"Look," Maura said, not looking up at Jane but pointing at Ted.

Teddy was crawling across the floor towards Maura.

"Holy crap," Jane said, kneeling on the floor next to Maura.

"Come on, baby," Maura encouraged him. "Come to Mommy."

Teddy was moving a few hesitant steps forward and then pausing and moving again. He reached a hand out in front of him but didn't stick the landing and went face first into the rug. Maura gasped but he popped right back up and started crawling towards them again.

Jane tried to stifle her laughter but couldn't and soon Maura was joining in, covering her mouth with her hand to hide her giggling.

Teddy stopped crawling and sat down, distracted by a toy, and Maura looked over at Jane with tears in eyes. "He did it. He's crawling. I didn't know I would feel so proud of him simply for reaching a developmental milestone."

"That was the dorkiest thing you've ever said. Look, he's going again."

Teddy continued crawling, with encouraging cheers from Jane and Maura, until he reached Maura. She picked him up and peppered his face with kisses while he giggled.

Maura passed him to Jane who lifted him up high, saying, "Good job, little buddy. Ready to go again?" Jane brought him to the other side of the room and set him down on all fours. He immediately started crawling back towards Maura.

Maura looked up at Jane who said, "We're in trouble now, huh?"


	10. Chapter 10

**Adaptations**

Chapter 10

Pairing: Jane/Maura  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me.

**Warning: Spoilers for Episode 3.10. See chapter 1 for full summary.**

_**A/N: This chapter skips ahead a few months. I will probably wrap this story up in another chapter. Thanks to everyone who has been reading along.**_

* * *

Saturday afternoon, Jane and Angela were hanging decorations in the living room while Maura was out with Constance. Decorating was taking a lot longer than Jane had anticipated since it involved stopping every twenty seconds to corral Ted as he made another attempt to escape the living room.

Ted could walk as long as he had contact with a piece of furniture. Otherwise he could crawl around like a little race car, all the while babbling to himself, which according to Maura was him trying out different sounds and learning how to make him. Jane swore he was talking to himself in a language only he could understand because every once in a while he would pause and giggle like he just told himself a joke.

"I can't believe we're decorating for a one year old's birthday. Actually I can't believe we're having a party for a one year old. It's not like he's going to remember it," Jane said.

"Sometimes things that seem like they're for kids are really for parents," Angela said.

Jane frowned. "So this is really for Maura?"

Angela glared at Jane. "Don't be stupid, Janie. Do you think Maura's parents did this when she turned one? Or for any birthday, for that matter?"

"I guess probably not."

"I know they didn't. Constance told me they never did something like this when Maura was a baby because as you said, Maura wasn't going to remember it. And when Maura was older, she never asked for a birthday party."

"Right. Of course not," Jane said. After a moment of thinking she said, "So the party is because Maura doesn't want Ted to ever feel like she did."

"Something like that," Angela replied. "Plus it's always nice to have an occasion to bring family and friends together."

"Seems like we get plenty of that," Jane mumbled.

"Tommy's home," Angela said.

Jane's head snapped up Ted to look at her mother. "He is? Since when?"

"A few days ago."

"Why doesn't he ever tell me when he's back? Why didn't you tell me before?"

Angela shrugged. "I don't know."

"I guess I should ask Maura if we should invite him to the party."

"You know, Jane, things have changed quite a bit between you and Maura since he was last here. You should tell him before he's surprised by it."

Jane looked at her mother for a moment, looking for a hidden message in her mother's statement, before saying, "Okay."

"That's all you're going to say? Okay?"

"What? You're right. I need to talk to him."

"It's just that you know he had a thing for Maura and now you're here with Maura and Teddy. I just want you to be gentle with him," Angela added.

"I get it," Jane said. "I'll talk to him and I promise I'll be nice. I'll go talk to him in the morning. That way I can invite him to the party."

* * *

Maura arrived home, ladened with shopping bags, just before Ted's bedtime. She passed the bags off to Jane and took Teddy upstairs for a bath and bed.

"Are you hungry?" Jane asked Maura when she came back downstairs.

"Not really. We had a late lunch," Maura answered, collapsing on the couch. "Shopping with my mother is exhausting."

"I'm sure I know exactly how you feel right now," Jane joked as she sat down next to Maura.

"Did you eat?" Maura asked.

"I made my speciality, a grilled cheese sandwich. Everything should be set for tomorrow afternoon. But Ma told me that Tommy is back in town. He's been back for a few days. I think tomorrow morning I should go talk to him. You know, tell him about us. He doesn't know. I'll invite him to the party if you're okay with him coming."

Maura was silent, staring at a spot on the carpet.

"Hey, you okay? I don't have to invite Tommy. I don't care either way. I don't know if he even has any idea it's Teddy's birthday."

"No, it's fine if you want to invite Tommy," Maura said slowly. "But I think we need to talk."

"Oh. That's never a good thing to hear someone say. What's going on?"

Maura finally looked up at Jane. "I think we should talk about where our relationship is going."

"What does that mean? I thought we were doing pretty well," Jane said, struggling to keep her voice level.

"I agree, we're doing really well," Maura said and moved closer to Jane so she could take hold of Jane's hands. "And I love you. I love you so much."

"So what's the problem?" Jane asked, obviously confused.

"I have to think about Ted."

"And you think I'm not thinking about him?" Jane said heatedly, pulling her hands out of Maura's grasp.

"No, I...damn it. This isn't coming out right." Maura took a deep breath. "What I'm trying to say is that when I think about the progression of our relationship, it's not just about you and me, Ted has to factor in to it also. At this point, I would really like you to move in here with us."

"Oh," Jane said, visibly relaxing. "You don't think it's too soon for that?"

"I know it might seem fast, although we've known each other so long I don't think that's really accurate. Teddy is very attached to you and soon he's going to be old enough to notice if you aren't always here. I don't think that would be good for him."

"Recently the only time I don't spend the night here is when I'm working until late in the night or I'm on call. And that's so I don't disrupt everyone."

Maura took Jane's hands again. "I would like it if you were here every night. I know what your job is like. I know you can get called in the middle of the night. I know you can't always come home at a reasonable hour. But when you do come home I want it to be here."

"Are you afraid I'm going to say no?" Jane asked.

"I'm concerned you'll say you aren't ready. But is there any other reason I should be concerned?"

"You changed around your whole life and changed your whole job for Teddy. For better or worse, I'm a cop. I can't be anything else. You have to be okay with that."

Maura shook her head as she said, "I don't expect you to change anything."

"You don't now. But what about in a few years when Teddy starts asking questions about my job? And you know that sometimes this work can drag anybody down because of the shit I see everyday, the shit I see people do to other people, even people they are supposed to love. I don't want to bring that home but that's not something I can always prevent. And you know all of the risks better than almost anyone. Down the road you can't change your mind. You can't ask me to change."

Maura squeezed Jane's hands as she fought back tears. "I won't. I will never ask that of you."

Jane was quiet for a moment before saying, "I think about this almost every day, whether it's fair to you and Ted to even try to do this. But I want you and I want Teddy. If you still want me then I will definitely move in with you."

Maura wiped away a tear as it rolled down her cheek.

Jane pulled on Maura's arm until Maura moved onto her lap. "I'm sorry. I hate it when you cry."

"I'm not crying."

"Maura," Jane said, wiping a fresh tear off of Maura's cheek.

"I mean, I'm not crying because I'm sad. They're happy tears."

Jane wiped away another tear and then kissed Maura's lips. Soft at first, the kiss became heated as Maura fisted her hands in Jane's shirt and pulled their bodies closer together.

"I love you," Jane said and maneuvered Maura onto her back and settled on top of her, her hips between Maura's legs. Jane moved her lips to Maura's neck and rolled her hips into Maura until she felt Maura's hand on her chest pushing her away.

"We shouldn't down here," Maura breathed.

Jane looked up at Maura. "He hasn't figured out how to climb out of his crib yet."

"No, but we shouldn't set a precedent. Take me to bed, Jane."

* * *

In the morning Jane called Tommy and asked him if he could meet for breakfast or coffee. He named a diner in Allston and Jane took the Green Line out to meet him.

Tommy was already seated in a booth sipping a coffee when Jane arrived and he greeted Jane with a hug.

When they both sat down Jane said, "Why don't you ever tell me when you're home? I always have to hear it from Ma."

"I don't want to bother you, you're busy."

Jane signaled the waitress for a coffee before saying, "Tommy, I'm not too busy for you. How long are you back for?"

"Probably for a while. The job I was working is finished. I'm gonna look for a job around here now. I'd rather stay around here anyway. The money was good for the Florida job but otherwise Florida sucks."

"It would be great if you could stick around. Let me know if I can help with the job search."

"Yeah, thanks. So Ma said you've been hanging out with Maura and Teddy a lot."

"Yeah, that's actually what I need to talk to you about." Jane took a deep breath before saying, "Maura and I have actually been seeing each other."

"What do you mean you're seeing each other?" Tommy asked, obviously confused.

"I've been hanging out with Maura and Teddy a lot because Maura and I are dating. She actually just asked me to move in with her."

"So does that mean you're helping her with Teddy? Like helping raise him?"

"Yes."

Tommy leaned back in his seat and ran his fingers through his hair. "Fuck, Jane. That's...I don't know. I mean Maura raising Teddy was kinda weird. But you too, that's just another level of weird."

"I know," Jane said. "I...I wish I could somehow make it less weird but I can't. But you should know that I love Maura and I have for a long time. I love Teddy too and yeah, it's weird, and he's probably gonna need therapy his whole adult life, but right now all that matters is that he's going to grow up surrounded by people who love him."

"Yeah, that's good. I mean, I want that for Teddy and I know that I wasn't going to be able to take care of him the way Maura can and I guess you can. It's not like Lydia and I were in love or anything. So if you and Maura are then I'm happy for you. It's just going to make family events even weirder I guess. Oh shit, does Ma know that you're dating Maura?"

"Yeah Ma knows," Jane said, smiling at Tommy's concern. "I wanted to tell you myself, that's why she didn't say anything."

"Do you like it, being a parent?" Tommy asked.

"Yes, I do." Jane cleared her throat. "So, today is Ted's birthday."

"Already? Damn, I'm sorry I didn't remember."

"That's okay. But speaking of family get-togethers, we're having a little party this afternoon. You should come. I would have invited you earlier if I had known you were back."

"Ah, Jane, I don't know." Tommy gave Jane a pained smile. "I don't think that's a good idea. I would't want to make everything awkward."

"Well, maybe another day," Jane said. Tommy just nodded. "I should go. Ma's probably going crazy making food for the party." Jane stood and before leaving said, "Don't be a stranger, Tommy."


	11. Chapter 11

**Adaptations**

Chapter 11

Pairing: Jane/Maura  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me.

**Warning: Spoilers for Episode 3.10. See chapter 1 for full summary.**

_A/N: Jumping ahead several months again. This chapter wraps up this story. Thanks for reading._

* * *

Jane knocked on Constance's door and waited for her to answer it.

It was a moment before Constance answered the door, looking a little flustered, and said, "Jane, I wasn't expecting you. Maura always picks up Theodore."

"Theodore? You know you're the only one who calls him that, right? He probably doesn't know you're even talking to him. Something came up at work and Maura had to stay a little late. And I happened to be free early. How did it go today?"

"It went very well. He can really get around now though. I think I spent the whole afternoon chasing him."

"Yup, sounds about right. He's only got one speed." They walked into the living room of Constance's apartment and Ted ran over to Jane and grabbed onto her leg and Jane picked him up. "Hey little buddy. Were you good for Mamie?" Jane said, kissing his cheeks until he started giggling. "Well, I'll get him out of your hair."

"Why don't you stay for a little bit, Jane? Have a cup of coffee with me."

"I should really go. He's gonna be ready for dinner soon."

"Just five minutes then? I would really like to talk to you."

Jane couldn't' think of a reason not to so she said, "Uh, yeah, okay."

"Let's go to the living room," Constance said.

Jane followed and put Teddy back down on the rug among the toys Constance had here for him and then sat down on the couch where she could watch him.

Constance perched on the edge of the couch. "I have to admit, I never imagined this, giving over part of my living room to serve as a play area." Jane only smiled politely and Constance continued. "When Maura was a child, of course she had a nursery and her own room for toys."

"Of course," Jane said, not even trying to hide the sarcasm from her voice.

"I didn't know any better. That's how I was raised and how my friends raised their kids. I'm learning. I find I'm learning a lot of things now from my beautiful grandson and my wonderful daughter."

"Now that you're paying attention."

Constance didn't even flinch. "I suppose I deserve that. I wanted to talk to you because I believe I owe you an apology. I'm sorry for not trusting you. I don't want this animosity between us to continue or linger. I think that you and I should be friends."

"Does this mean that you trust me now?"

"Maura is my daughter. We both know that she can be too trusting sometimes, perhaps a little naive about people's intentions. I was only trying to look out for her."

Jane kept her expression blank. "You didn't answer my question."

"I think I may be beginning to understand why you are so good at your job. I do trust that you intend to do right by Maura and Ted. But I don't completely trust you yet."

"Well, I wouldn't want you going completely soft on me," Jane said with a genuine smile. "We should go."

"Of course."

Jane stood and said "Teddy, come say goodbye to Mamie, buddy."

Ted came running over and climbed the couch so he could climb onto Constance's lap and give her a hug. "À bientôt, sweet boy," Constance said.

Jane picked Ted off of Constance's lap. "Teddy, can you say goodbye?"

"Bye," Teddy said happily, waving at Constance.

"You're coming over for dinner on Sunday, right?" Jane asked.

"Yes, I am."

"Good, we'll see you then."

* * *

Jane brought Ted home, gave him dinner, and put him to bed. She had expected Maura to be home by this time but she wasn't so Jane lay down on the couch and promptly fell asleep.

She woke up to Maura sitting down next to her. "Hey," Jane said sleepily. "Were you at your meeting this whole time?"

"Yes, it took a lot longer than I anticipated. There was lots of paperwork and personnel and budget decisions that needed to be finalized. Plus call schedules had to be determined."

Jane sat up and stretched "But it's done?"

"Yes, it's done."

"Well come here," Jane said, pulling Maura against her and into a kiss. "Congratulations." Jane threaded her fingers in Maura's hair, holding her close. "You're back where you belong."

"Don't you think that's a bit of an exaggeration?" Maura asked against Jane's lips.

"Not at all," Jane said, her voice low. "You shouldn't spend all of your time pushing papers around. You belong with us in the trenches and solving murders."

"Thank you," Maura said then kissed Jane again.

"Saturday we're going out to celebrate. I've already got Ma lined up to watch Ted," Jane said.

"Okay, but right now, I'm hungry. Have you had dinner?"

"No, I was waiting for you, then I fell asleep. How about I make us grilled cheese sandwiches? I'll even put tomatoes on yours," Jane said, already on her way to the kitchen.

"Fine, but I'm making a salad for both of us too," Maura called after her.

Once they sat down to eat, Jane said, "I had a nice chat with your mother today."

"Does that mean you're going to start being civil to each other?" Maura asked.

"She started it," Jane answered with feigned petulance.

"Jane, it's been months since the two of you have had a proper conversation."

"True, but we've always been civil to each other. We just haven't been particularly friendly. But yes, I think that will improve now."

"Is that all you're going to tell me about the conversation?"

"She was just letting me know that she's softened her position on me a little bit. That's all."

"She'll come around."

"Yeah, we'll see."

* * *

Saturday evening Jane drove them towards the waterfront. When she turned onto Seaport Boulevard, Maura said, "Ooh, are we going to the Institute of Contemporary Art?"

"No. As much as I'm sure you would like that, I hope you'll like what I've actually planned better. Also, I'm planning on enjoying the evening."

"You should be more open minded about different forms of artistic expression."

"I just don't think it should count as art if I could do it myself." Jane said as she pulled into the Seaport Hotel parking garage.

"I think you're missing the point," Maura countered.

"Probably," Jane agreed. "Come on, we don't want to be late."

Jane took Maura's hand and led them across the street. "I think I know where we're going," Maura finally said.

They'd reached the ramp to one of the harbor cruise ships. Jane paused to allow Maura to go first across the ramp. "Good detective work, babe."

One of the ship's staff greeted them and Jane had a brief conversation with him. Then she led Maura to the upper deck where a single table with two chairs was set up for dinner.

Maura leaned against the railing along the side of the boat and Jane joined her. "Jane?" she questioned. "Why is there no one else here? Are we the only ones taking the cruise tonight?"

The boat was already pulling away from the dock when Jane answered. "Yes we are. We've got the whole ship to ourselves."

"How? I mean, how did you arrange this?"

Jane slid closer, pulling Maura against her with a hand on her hip. "Every once in a while I can pull off an awesome surprise. And occasionally being a cop has its perks. I knew someone from a previous case and was able to pull a few strings to get the ship to ourselves. I wanted to do something special for you and we haven't had a chance to get out and do something fun for a while so I wanted to make sure it was perfect."

"Thank you," Maura said, tilting her face up to Jane with a smile.

Jane leaned down and kissed Maura. "I thought we'd eat now while we head out into the harbor, then we can enjoy the rest of the ride and the sunset."

"That sounds lovely," Maura agreed. They moved to the table and Jane pulled out a chair for her and she sat down murmuring, "Thank you."

As soon as Jane sat down a waiter appeared with a bucket of ice and a bottle of champagne.

"I'm very impressed that you set all of this up," Maura said. "But I, um...everything is alright though, right?"

Jane poured them each a glass of champagne. "What do you mean?"

"You aren't doing all of this to tell me something bad are you?" Maura asked seriously.

"Of course not. Who would do that?"

Maura's face fell.

"Oh."

Maura shook her head. "No, don't feel bad for me. I shouldn't have even had that thought right now. When I was child, over the top gifts meant that my parents were going away for a long time or we were moving or something else that they thought might be upsetting to a child. It was never anything terrible but at some point I realized the big gifts were meant as something like bribes for future good behavior."

"Well, that's definitely not what this is."

"I know you would never do that."

Jane raised her glass and said, "We're celebrating your return to full time Chief Medical Examiner duties and belatedly celebrating moving in together."

Maura raised her glass and touched it to Jane's.

Food arrived and they ate largely in silence, enjoying the view as they moved past Castle Island into Boston Harbor. When they finished, Jane took Maura's hand and led her to the bow of the ship where two chairs were set up.

The boat made a large circle among the Harbor Islands and turned back towards the Boston skyline.

Jane took hold of Maura's hand, interlocking their fingers, and said, "I just want to make sure you know that I'm really happy. You know that I was skeptical, to say the least, about whether...well, about whether I could be everything you wanted me to be. I wasn't sure I could be the person you deserved to have in your life. I didn't know if I could be a parent. I didn't know if I wanted to be and I didn't really think I could be a parent. I love waking up with you everyday and going to sleep next to you every night. And I love raising Teddy with you."

Jane slid off the chair and onto the floor onto one knee.

Maura gasped. "Are you doing what I think you're doing?"

"I thought you didn't guess."

"Don't tease me right now," Maura said but she was smiling.

"I never thought I would be doing this. I mean, I really never thought I be on either side of this situation. But I want to make our odd little family official." Jane put her hand in her pocket and pulled out a ring which she held up between her thumb and forefinger. "I love you and I will always love you and take care of you and Ted. Maura, will you marry me?"

"Of course I'll marry you." Maura moved off of her chair to kneel with Jane and threw her arms around Jane's neck and kissed her hard. She replaced her lips with her thumb and brushed her fingers across Jane's cheek. "I'm sorry if I start crying but I can't believe you did all of this and I love you so much," she said, struggling to hold back the tears.

Jane leaned back and grabbed Maura's left hand. "Can I put this on?"

"Yes."

Jane slid the ring onto Maura's ring finger. The ring was a gold band with two small diamonds set on either side of a dark green stone. "Peridot," Maura said. "My birthstone."

"It matches the green in your eyes. Actually the band with the diamonds was my grandmother's ring. Ma gave it to me when I told her I was planning to propose to you. I had it re-set with the peridot. If you don't like it we can get you whatever you want."

"I love it. It's perfect. You're perfect."

Jane stood and pulled Maura to her feet too, holding her close. "I love you and I'm so lucky that you want to spend the rest of your life with me."

Maura leaned her cheek against Jane's shoulder. "Is your mother going try to plan the wedding?"

"Yes, definitely. She's also probably going to start asking when there will be more grandchildren too."

"That's okay.

"It is?" Jane said surprised.

"Well, it's not like we can accidentally get pregnant. There's really nothing she can do about that. But given Ted's age, it's probably time to start thinking about when we want to have our next child."

"It is?" Jane said, the panic evident in her voice.

"I'm joking, Jane."

"You are?"

"Kind of."

* * *

_The End. Thanks for reading._


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